Our war of resistance has now reached the fourth
anniversary of its outset. When we realized that if Japanese
aggression went unchecked it would threaten more than the
existence of China, it would prove calamitous for the whole
world, we rose up accordingly with fearless resolution to
wrestle with this formidable enemy. We thought it no time to
count the costs. These four years of war have seen Japanese
military strength immensely reduced and it proves the
enormity of Japanese ambitions made clear to the world.

From the very beginning we were prepared to fight alone
to the end. We were and are confident that China is strong
enough to master Japan. If the countries friendly to our
cause will but assist us to the best of their ability in our
military and economic necessities, the progress of our Army
will be accelerated and the world will be sooner rid of one
of the greatest dangers to its welfare. The Chinese people
are supremely aware of the cruelties of warfare and they are
second to none in their reluctance to see any nation under go
the sufferings that war entails. The Chinese Army and People
will consider their sacrifices adequately rewarded if the
cause of justice triumphs and humanity is spared at least
from one peril, the terrible experiences we have stood here.
I have frequently made this statement and the truth of it is
evident to all observers from countries friendly to China.

During the past twelve months violent changes have taken
place in both the Far Eastern and world situation. The last
few weeks have been particularly crowded with developments
following one another in rapid succession. The manner in
which the Axis Powers have emulated and seconded the lead of
Japan has resulted in the division of the world into two
great domains; that on the one hand of the bloc of nations
the instruments of whose policy is aggression and that on the
other hand of a bloc of nations resolved to oppose
aggression. As things stand today the war in the Far East is
no longer to be viewed as merely a conflict between two
nations, for the European and Asiatic Wars have now become
closely interrelated. Scarcely a single country remains
unaffected because this predatory group of powers excludes no
country from the scope of its design to dominate the world by
force. So much has become quite clear. A mighty conflagration
is sweeping the world and, after the nature of fire, it will
continue to burn up all in its path until, and unless, it is
extinguished. To control this ghastly evil the only course is
to strike down the flame while there is yet time. As to how
this is effectively to be done I have three points to make.

Firstly: every fire has a starting point, and the
historical force of this present world wide war was
undoubtedly Japan's attack on our Northeastern Provinces
launched in total disregard of all treaty obligations. By
that act of aggression a decade ago Japan displayed the
course upon which she was bent. Later in 1936 she lent fresh
impetus to the forces of aggression with the Anti-Comintern
Pact she was then foremost in cementing. She was obviously
resolved to see the world plunged into chaos. Within the past
year she had entered into a tripartite alliance with Germany
and Italy and subsequently announced her conception of an
order for "Greater East Asia" under her hegemony,
formally declaring the terms to embrace Oceania. As such, to
the expansion of her power southward she has established
naval bases on Hainan Island and in Indo-China. Japan has
thus been outstandingly instrumental in magnifying the scale
of the war, in finessing the plan she was the first to make.
She is to be regarded as more than the villainous originator
of the Far Eastern War. She is responsible for the universal
character of the strife we now see spreading over the earth.
Until this final flame of the evil is backed up there can be
no hope of permanent peace for mankind at large.

Secondly: the issue of the conflict will depend upon the
efficiency with which the forces working against aggression
can make themselves felt. Asia is the center of the globe's
greatest masses of population and of its richest resources.
If, therefore, the democracies of Asia, America and Europe
can truly concentrate their energies in the pursuit of their
common endeavor against the aggressors their co-operation can
insure victory and the destruction of the powers devoted to
the rule of force. Let the nations concerned with the various
territories that compose the Pacific land areas make a
revolutionary change in their attitude and view the
importance of the Pacific with fresh insight. Then they will
realize that the Ocean and the Continent of Asia will have at
least equal importance with the Atlantic and Europe and the
urgency of the task of crushing the power of Japan will
appear to them proportional to the gravity of the situation
in Europe. China has fought four years of grueling war as
much for the good of the world as for her own. The nations
friendly to her should regard it as imperative both for the
protection of their own interests and for the sake of the
world's future that a turn be put to the outrageous
depredations of Japan. That done, Asia, America, Australia
and Africa can bring their combined weight to bear on the
enterprise of imposing a settlement of the European
hostilities. If they wishfully think the Japanese may
experience a change of heart and suppose it safe to let them
have their way for the time being, they will find their error
as disastrous as the policy of appeasement pursued until
recently by European countries toward Germany. If they
conceive it possible to distinguish between the Axis Powers
and Japan, shrinking at the former and letting the latter
have rein, the consequences are likely to be shocking. I am
convinced that no democratic country can afford to view with
unconcerned perspective the fierce flames of war in Asia
until they find their own territory aglow.

Thirdly: the present division of the world into two parts
is perfectly clear. Japan, Germany, and Italy compose a block
the sole policy and purpose of which is aggrandizement at the
expense of the rest of the world. As a result all peoples,
lovers of peace and freedom, have joined themselves up in an
opposing front. We Chinese firmly hold that this front is
potentially far stronger than the aggressors. In order to
insure victory its strength must, however, be developed to
the utmost by close co-operation with one another in the
course of the life and death contest that has now begun. Your
vision must not be marred by attention to trivial and merely
immediate features of the situation. Indecision and
vacillation must be eliminated. We must make up for lost time
and wrest the initiative from the aggressors. We must not
allow the latter enough time to consolidate their gains and
strike with strategic advantage. It is now widely argued
whether Japan would move southward or northward. Some people
seem to assume that she is not in a position to strike either
or both directions and will possibly devote her further
efforts of aggression to attacking China alone. To my mind we
must carefully guard ourselves against making any calculation
based upon such arguments of assumption because the
aggressors are both opportunists and aggressors and therefore
are capable of sudden and unpredictable action. Any
miscalculation on our part may entail grave consequences.

I would conclude by expressing a certain point of view in
response to the assistance rendered China by her friends
among the nations. The Chinese people will ever remember with
gratitude our neighbor Soviet Russia, America of the Western
Hemisphere, and England, contending herself with the greatest
adversity of circumstances, have all contributed generously
to our support and resistance thus encouraging and inspiring.
The Chinese Government and People will certainly act up to
the task given them for not to do so would be to fail the
ideal animating their own struggle and sacrifices. At the
time when resistance began I said that we were engaged in a
conflict of good with evil or equity and justice with brute
force. Now we hope and believe that there will be more
effective collaboration between China and her friends. To
dream is doom for all of us. President Roosevelt expressed it
in terms of four freedoms which all humanity has the right to
enjoy. It is my privilege to declare that the Chinese people
in condemning the Japanese are not only with unity of purpose
of putting an end to Japanese aggression but also are
thinking of contributing to a new world order of the future,
to the civilization and prosperity of mankind. That is their
great determination.